Take one part beloved children's puzzle toy. Add creepy gremlin face and feet and Spanish children. Make GOLD.

One of the GREATEST cartoons of all time, Rubik the Amazing Cube delighted maybe a handful of people in 1983, it's solo year on the air. Only 13 episodes exist--but in that time Rubik and company visit Wonderland, journey to the future in a time machine to thwart a plan to steal the Statue of Liberty, win a dance contest, recover a lucky bike helmet, go trick-or-treating, rough it in the great outdoors, foil some pooch-nappers, recover buried treasure, enter a science fair, vacay in Hawaii, and free themselves from slavery. Yep, not at all an ambitious thirteen eps. 

The adventure begins when a crate tumbles out of the back of a gypsy wagon, smashing open and spilling it's cargo, an unsolved Rubik's Cube, onto the street. Enter siblings Carlos, Reynaldo and Lisa Rodriguez, who happen upon the lost cube while riding their BMX bikes. Carlos solves the Cube (magically in about 2 seconds), and the Cube springs to life--sprouting legs and a grey Yoda-ish mug. Much like a genie in a bottle scenario, Rubik stays around to help out and protect the Rodriguez kids, be it from youthful bullies, hardened criminals, or mad hatters. He has several super powers, that seem to change every episode. One catch--if Rubik becomes at all scrambled, he falls to the floor, lifeless, until someone solves him again. And it happens A LOT. Why Carlos didn't duct tape him solved is beyond me.

Below is a clip from the show--and one of my favorite things ever. Nothing says Christmas like a tropical climate and old Aztec ruins!